Rock Band 3 gets 'Pro' mode, real guitar hybrid controller and keytar revealed -- Devo be praised
Wrap your head around this one: a 150-button guitar peripheral. That's for the pro version of Rock Band 3, whose goal is to actually turn the controllers into something more fitting of actual musicianship in a separate, more advanced "Pro" mode (the core game is still intact for those want it). First up is the aforementioned two-octave keyboard / keytar, whose difficulty goes from pressing within one of five ranges to actual dead-on notes. For drums, the three cymbals can now actually function as separate notes, sharing three lanes but given their own shape to know which to hit. Guitar, however, is a whole new beast. A $150 Fender Mustang pro (pictured up top) boasts 17 frets and 6 strings of accurate placement for a total of 102 buttons, and six nylon strings that must be plucked individually. Of course, if that hits the uncanny valley of plastic peripherals too closely, there's a Rock Band 3 Squier Stratocaster that'll be coming out that can actually be used as a real guitar or a Pro model. Vocal melodies from Beatles Rock Band carry over here. No concrete release date; head on over to new Joystiq for the preview, or if you want to see true trendsetters, watch Devo predict this game all the way from 1982 -- that video's after the break.
